Rib-knitting machine.



R. W.. SGGTT.

lRIB KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAYJT, 1913.

183,564. Patented Jan. wm,

3 SHEETS-SEEEVT 1.

lR. W. s001111 RBKNITTING MACHINE. APPLGATION FLED MAY 7, 1918.

Patente Jam. 15514.

s SHBBTSSHEET z.

W.' lrirlg RIB KNTTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAY?, 191s.

Patenad Jan. 6, 19M. l

LSW

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

mme/@gag A y e@ l j", AVM/K ROBERT w. scorr, vor ricerca, MASSACHUSETTS,Assrenon ro scofrfr e winnares, inconronarnn, or Calmann, new assenti,.a conrona'ricn or' naw cansar.

RIB-KNITTING ll/ACI-IINE.

Specification of Letters liatent.V

Patented dan. 6, 19M

Application tiled May 7,.i913. Serial4 No. 768,092.

'dent of'Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts,have invented a certain new and useful `RiblKnitting Machine, of whichthe following is la specification.

The object of my invention is to improvethe mode of operation oftheinstruments, which may be the instruments of the' prior art, employedto: knit ribfwebs, for the pun pose of insu-ring the formation of thefabric under conditions imposing a greatly' de'- creased strain upon theyarn composing the knit loops, my invention -having special value inknitting webs o'f fine er coarse gage in which light and delicate urnsare employed. y

My invention further relates to cill in the construction of rib knittingma to enable themy to practice my said method, especially of that classof machines employing in their operation a set of primary nee-` dles anda set of secondary needles for knitting the respective faces of thelfabric.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure i is a vertical radial sectionthrough the cyl' inder and dial of a rib knitting machine of a. usualtype having therein my improved devices, on the line l-l of Fig. 2; Fig.2 is an under plan of the dial cam cap of such la ma- ,chine equippedwi-th my new devices; Fig.

is a development of the cam cylinder showin'ginthe knitting cams; Fig.4- is an enlarged section corresponding to Fig. l showing the relationof the needles and the yarn during the knitting of a stitch by the dialat one of the knitting points; Fig. 5 is a plan of a portion of 'thedial needles showing their relation to each other and illustrating thecoaction of the needles and yarn; Fig. 6 is a view of the dial cam capsimilar to Fig. 2 showing a modification;

7 is a view similar to ig. 3 of the cam cylinder employed with saidmodification; Fig. 8 shows two kinds of needles employed in the needlecylinder in the torni of the said modification.

The knitting of rib webs, essentially requiringthe systematic drawing ofloops of the new course at the edge of the fabric through previous loopsin alternate wales, or groups of wales, respectively drawn tooppositefaces of the fabric, may be as-4 sumed for the purposes of thisapplication to necessitate hooked instruments, conveniently latchneedles, cooperating with each. other to engage the new yarn and draw itthrough the old loop.

Inca-ses where rib fabric is formed by the primary action of one set ofneedles, and the secondary action of the other set, difficulty isexperienced in knocking the old loops carried by the secondary needlesover the new loops of yarn which vhave just been introduced into 4thehooks of said needles. lnl all rib knitting machines with which Iv amfamiliar, the needles are actuated in a successive orderwith respect vtotheir car- Vriers, one set of either carrier, which may be termedprimary needles, first drawing their stitches, the intervening yarnbeing laid over the needles of the other carrier, termed secondaryneedles, and the latter. being then retracted to a pointat which thehook of the needle is well within the edge of its carrier before theknocking over of the old loop, which knocking over is accomplished bythe combined action of the take up strain upon the fabric, and thereaction of the verge or edge of the carrier, or instruments at saidverge, upon the said loop, tending to prevent itfromfollowing the movingneedle.

But the moving secondary needle engages its new yarn in the middle of arun thereof extending between two adjacent primary loops, in which it islocked and by the distance between which the extent of said yarn ismeasured. The distance to which said run of yarn may be moved away fromthe line determined by the surface on which the primary needles operateis thus limited, and in order to move-the secondary lneedlessufficiently far to cause the knocking over of its previous loop adangerous strain is always more or less present in ribbed webs producedupon instruments so operated. In fine gage machines, in which thedistancer between two adjacent primary needles .is often less than onesixteenth of an inch, this damage often amounts to a serious loss oftensile strength, and in webs of any gage, its infiuence'upon theselection of yarns capable of being knit is well marked; Y

It is not practicable to operate the needles by any means at presentknown in the art to cause a simultaneous draft and knockv ing over. altthe two needle carriers, the limiting factors in this respect having todo with'interferenee of the needle latches of one'set with the bodies ofthe needles of the other set, with the tendency of the closing 'latchesto trap and shear-cut the yarn misfor instance such a machine as anindependent needle cylinder and dial machine of the type shown, whenmynew ldevices are not employed, the needles of both the cylinder 2 andthedial 3 will be actuated to advance them with respect to the verge oredge of their respective' carriers to clear'their loops behind theirlatches, to then engage the new yarn carried in a yarn guide 5,5, as isusual in their hooks (which said operations may l' be simultaneous), andthen the needles of one of the carriers only will be withdrawn intotheir carrier, to draw the new loop v through the old loop, a similaroperation upon the other carrier following within a short interval. Theneedles of the first car,- rier to knit are hereinafter referred to asprimary needles, and of the second carrier A to knit as secondaryneedles.

^ Referring now to Fig. 5, the cylinder needles w having taken the yarnYfor instance, will all be actuated at fw to knit one face of thefabric. s y I The needles a@ of the primary carrier having knit, theyarns extending between the knit loops of adjacent needles vor groups ofneedles of said primary carrier will be engaged by the hooks of theadvanced needles of said secondary carrier, and it will become necessaryfor the needlesl of the secondary carrier toso perform their-'operationsas to draw the yarnso engaged into loops of proper length for thesecondary face of the fabric byapenetrating movement throuoh the oldloops engaged upon their shan is. The minimum movement possible for thispurpose of pulling the new loop through the old loop (which may bestated with the same meaning as knocking the old loop over the head ofthe needle` on to the new loop) -must be made with respect to the fixedline of primary needles, and necessarily' is of a dimension sufficientto place the yarn runs 7 new held in the hook of a secondary (dial)needle and engaged at its ends with loops held on the cylinder needlesunder great.

strain. The farther the secondary needle is compelled to move before itsloop is'knocked over, the greater becomes the strain. The

mechanical conditions of the machine, re-

quil-ing an open throat for the forming fabric between the cylinder 2and the dial 3 t verge or edge@y of, the secondary carrier any farther'towargl"y the" surface occupied by the primary needles.

I have described onev way of overcoming the above difficulties in myapplication Serial No. 676,526, filed February 9, 1,912, which disclosesthe vdevice of separate instruments for the needles of the secondarycarrier, to engage thel old loops of that face of' the fabric knit bysaid instruments, and to positively move the said loops withrespect totheir needles, to secure knocking over with respect to runs of yarn, thestrain on which has been relieved by the release ofthe primary needlesfrom their stitch-v drawing position. My present method and machineconstitute another method for aceomplishing the same ends, andimprovements in the machine to practice saidl method.

lVith the employment so far as described of the old-instruments I havedevised a new order of performing the operations resulting in thedecrease of the strain placed upon' the yarn by the operation of theneedles of theloops hanging upon the secondary needles;

then relaxing the tension uponthe secondary loops so drawn, thereafter.vcompleting the secondary knitting by drawing the remaining runs of yarnintervening between the primary needles through the old loops of theother or secondary face. I have thus so ore dered the movements of theinstruments as to cause these operations to be successively performedwith respect to yarnsreleased and free for this purpose, each secondaryneedle being given yarn'from an adjacent needle not yetretracted andfrom the previously knit. loop or loops near it, sufficient to enable itto make the long movement necessary for knocking over an old sloop, andthe long loop formed by the said needle being in turn released, to beshortened by the long movement of an adjoining needle.

Referring now. to Figs. l and et, I have divided the secondary needles,shown as the dial needles, into two intercalated sets which may comprisealternate needles or groups of needles y and y having their butts atdifferent distances from their hooks to enable independent actuationIthereof. As shown the longer needles y for the dial have their operatingbutts suficiently inward of those of the short needles y to enable theirrespective actuation by 'cam grooves 4: and 6 prevent the moving of theknocking-over 1 of the dial cam cap 5. Said dial cam cap 130 noeste@may, asusual, he built up otattached cani Vplates to provide suchgrooves l' and t5 of proper conformation. Said grooves will successivelypresent, in the direction in which the needle butts travel with respectto the cam cap, advancing points '7, on the `same radial line, tosiii'iultaneously open the latches `ol: the dial-needles -with respectthe usual yarn feed and latch guard device (not shown), which thereafterprevents said latches from closing until the needles are retracted forlniittincr. Said cani grooves will' may be fed at the plane (l Thecylinder needles are immediately. actuated to knit with respectv to theadvanced dial needles, by the cylinder stitch cain l0, which'may asusual ,be formed es a triangular body,

` vertically adjustable as by the usual screw andV slot adj ustinentshown at ll to vary the length of the primary loop drawn by said cani 10with. respect to the dial needles y any y', which now rest with theirlatches F in Fig. o.

open and their heads beyond the line of cylinder needles, at thecircui'nlierential j iarts of the cani grooves el and 6, shown at 12,l2, Fig. The cylinder needles having knit, they are immediately advancedby the cani 13 to the position shown in Fig. -l to payback or` releasethe yarn drawn by their stitch forming` movement. The upper extent ofthe movement, which is not alone dependent upon the cam. 13 forpositively giving;` it, but may iii part be caused by the strain putupon the yarn by inovementof the dial needles, although l prefer topositively give it by the cani 13, is limited by the guard cam l'fl,

" which may be vertically adjustable by means siniilar` to theadjustingn screw ll. lininediat'ely upon the attainment of the positionsh own in l? 4l by the needles l now actu- -ate one set of the dialneedles, shown as tlie needles 11,', to perform their knitting movement,and :tor this purpose provide an adjustable'stitcli cam l5, having itsmaximum Withdrawal pointon the plane G of Figs. 2, Send CooperatingwithY the stitch eain the cam groove 6 provides at the point 1G a,circuii'ifereiitial portion 'talringjthe needles y to aposit-ion inwhich their hooks are substantially in the plane-occupied by the primaryneedles at this time,l which is the position shown for the needle if inFig. "-l `and at The cylinder needles and the dial needles y have thusbeen brought into a position at which'the minimum possible extent ofyarn will rpass through the old loops and through the respective hooks,duringl the time 'of the stitch forming movement ot the needle y, towhich eiicuighy yarn has been released by the advanced positions ot theneedle if and. 'the needle w when in the position of Fig. -l to enablethe tree recession ot said needle y to draw the new dial loop throughthe old loop,

immediately following the cam groove 1l, l provide au advancing incline17 cooperatinfjT with the needles y to advance 'theni to the positionshown at c, c, in Fig. 5, that is to say, to a position 'at which their'hooks are substantially in line with or in advance of the verge ofItheir carrier, to release the strain upon the new yarn loop. During; orpreferably following, this inovement the needles yv may be retracted toknock over their loops, for instance by the cani 18, which may be apivoted and adjustable stitch cam oltlie-form shown in Fig. 2.

j upon the loops taken by both the secondary l needles 3,/ and y duringtheir passage of the positions indicated atg and 7i, Flo'. 5, whichpositions represent the conditions of the neel-1 dles after they havebeen acted upon by thjeil inclines 17 and ll) of their respectivegrooves l and (l. This position of the dial needles is attained duringthe passage of the cylinder needles between the cams 13 and 14:, saidcylinder needles ren'iaining at rest in the position shown in Fig. 1l.It will be observed that the following steps have been taken: First, thecylinder needles have kuit, with respect to dial needles thrown out toengage the sinlrer wales between said cylinder needles, and saidcylinder' needles have then been released to a position at which theyplace the minimum possible tensionupon the loops of the new yarn justknit; second, certain ot the dial needles shown as alternate needleshave then performed their knitting movements during' such time as the.intervening` needles ot' the dial have also been placed in a positionto put no strain upon the.v new yarn held in their hooks, that is to sayat the position o of Fig. 5, and thusffto permit their yarn to be usedby the needles y following them to draw elongated stitches sulllcieut toknock over their old loops; third, that the needles-1 ofthe dial whichhad been in a position of `rest to release their loops for this purpose15 in the needles to knit.A Thusa' dial stitch on a needle y is robbed'or gives up some of its yarn to aid a needle/g to knit.A The last needleof the secondary carrier to knit, as describedv a short needle y, vvil'lnow be found to be holding` loops n slightly en-" larged at the expenseof the loops n of their flanking needles y, and larger than the loops o'-of the neighboring cylinder needles operation under normal conditions,if the adjustments are such as to cause recession but, vas will readilybe apparent, the mean 'or average size of the dial loops and thecylinder loops will be only substantially onehalf that 'necessary forthe knockingpver of the secondary needles into their carriers onlyVsufficient tol permit knocking-lover, at the times of their maximumWithdrawal illustrated at L and f in Fig, 5. By the dethrough the oldloop, Without having provided suliicient new ,yarn toA permit theseoperations to be performed simultaneously,

' orI by successive drawing movements of adjacent secondary needles. l j

In order to now adjust the short` loops which have been knit, I providean adjust-- able retracting cam for the cylinder, shown i at' 20, andadjustable retracting cams 21 cams isas indicated at Fig.- 5, to adjustor vance of the stitch forming point of the cani and 22 for the needlesy and y of the dial. llhile I have shown the cam 20 in a position toprecede in effect the operative position of cams 21 and 22, it isobvious 'that these positions may be reversed. The eifect of thesedistribute the yarn now completely interknit between' the loops n, n ofthe back or dialface of thefabric and the loopsvo of the front orcylinder Aface thereof.

In the case ot a multiple or double course machine such as that usuallyemployed 'for- Wide fabrics, I prefer to reverse'the order at which theneedles g/ and y knock over their loops at the second feed or course;for instance, instead' of the cam 15 having its stitch forming pointinthe groove 4 in ad- 18 in the groove 6, I may provide at the next yarnfeed in the groove 4 a' knitting cam 1,50, to knock over the needles yat a later time than the needles y, which Will be oper-- ated by a cam130 of the form andy at the position shown. The cylinder cam for thesecond feed or unit may, however, remain unaltered, comprising the cams9, 10, 13, 14

.and 20.

While I have shown the machine arranged to knit one-and-one fabric,having regularly alternating cylinder and dialfneedles, it will beunderstood that the formationof the secondary loops by the method'pointed outmay be eifected With respect to tivo or moreI needles of thesecondary carrier or dia-170 having no primary'or cylinder needle,betvveen them with similar advantages in reducing the size of the loopand especially in avoiding the strain impressed upon the yarnduringtheknocking-over operation.l

, In Figs. 6 and 7 I have shown one ofthe many variations of thearrangements of the machine which will suggest themselves to thoseskilled inthe art. In lthis instancia' the dial cam cap 51 is equippedWith a single l8o groove 61 in which the cams 71, 81, 181, 221 and 182may be dia-l cams of a familiar form, the cams 181 and 182 serving-,toactuate the single setl of dialneedles (which may be short needles ysuch as those above vde- 85 scribed) to draw primary stitehesmaft- 7 theplanes ll and R with respect to cylinder needles advanced by theadvancing cams 91v of the cylinder, in which the camsprovide twoactuating grooves 25 and 26 'in which 90 respectively stitchl cams 101and 102coacrtgvvith needles m and m2 such as are shovvnin Fig) 8. Thecam 101 actuates the needlesw to draw their yarn lduring the occupationof a position of advance by'the dial needlesgand the 95 neighboringcylinder needle-s" frlvhile the cam 102 is positioned to .actuate theVneedlesv m2 during the occupation of a position of advancev by the dialneedles and theicylinder needles m. The cylinder needles are ad-loolvanced by a cam 1 31 to lthe position shown f. for -the needle in Fig.4, before the actua.

tion of the needle m2 and thencam 102. The needles m2, after they haveknit at the'- cam 102, are advanced by a cam 13 2 tothe same 105 extentas the needles w.

The'loops of the primary 'and secondary faces are adjusted inthe mannerdescribed in connection with Figs. 2, 3, and by the operation of thedrawcams 201, in the re 110 spectiv'e cam' grooves of the cylinder,which cams follow in point of time of action an adjustable draw-cam 222,Fig. 6, coperating With the dial needles. lIt will be'understood thatasimilar actionltakes place at the 2id-.115

justable draw cams 202, in cooperation With y vthe dial draw cam 22-1 atthe next yarn feed.

As in the lcase above described in which the dial needles vwere thesecondary set, I

may at a subsequent feed change the order in which cylinder needles,actuated as secondary needles in tivo sets, arev respectively knockedover as, for instance, by providing the following cylinder cams 103, 104in the respectively exchanged positions with respectto their needles-and the cams 101 and 102 illustrated in Fig. 7.

Hy inventionis readily applicable, it will be understood Withoutspecific illustration,

as Well to rib knitting characterized by the 1430. i

.ness

`formation 'onone or both faces of persistently tucked loops', forinstance in connection with the makingl of cardigan or hallvcardiganfabrics, as to the regular rib knit- 'ting'shown and described as oneillustrative instance'. yMachines for the said purposes may, asnsu-al,beprovided at alternate feeds or gioupso' `feeds iii-both, or in one ofthe 'carriers only', respectively7 for saidv cardigan lioy -cams are inuse, the described knocking-over operation Will be delayed to another orlater course, with an accumulation of loops at the needles concerned,but. when said knockingover does take place, it will be With respect' toneipghl'ioringv *needles advanced to a looprelieving position in themanneigl have fully described.

It will be apparentlthat, While l have de-' scribed in v method inconnection with circular rib knitting machine., the saine movementsloithe 'needles 'with respect. to 'their carriers and each other may Welltake-place in rib knitting,- machines olf the straight or dat bedtype,and that the knitting instruments might be spring needles, capable' ofdrawingthe yarn .With respect to a knockingover verge or edge, as Wellas latch needles, and that the practice' of my method. in these caseswould produce the same improved results.

Yilvlliat' l claim is z 1. A. rib. knitting machine including two setsol needles and their carriers, means for guiding a yarn to the needles,means to cause one of said sets of needles to draw said yarn throughprevious loops to knit a course of onejface of a ribbed fabric; meansacting` thereafter-.Kto cause the needles of the other set to becomeoperative in. tivo series, the

first series drawing the varn intervening between ythe Wales oftheufirst set ofneedlei.

through the old loops and relaxing said.

loops prior to the operation of the second series in a similar manner.

2. A rib knitting machine comprising needle carriers, independentneedles therein, a guide 'for knitting yarn, and means to actuate theneedles offboth said carriers comprising a primary cam carrier and camsthereon to cause the lirst or primary set oi needles to knit with saidyarn, and means acting thereafter to cause the needles of the secondarycarrier to knit with said yarn in t-Wo intercalated series,` said meanscomprising cams to advance the needles of the series Erst to kuit priorto the retracting movement of the series last to knit.

3. A. rib knitting machine coinnr'sings ,ses

Vinai nte means actini` thereafter tocaus thefneedles of the secondarycarrier to'fknit inl tivdin- "tercalated series, said means "comprisingcams to advance the needle of the series fi-.rst to knit prior to theretracting. movement of a neighboring needle of the series ,last toknit, and means acting upon the needles of each of said sets to causethereto adjust-*the*I length oi the loops last knit.

e. ln a rib knitting machine, primary needles and a carrier therefor,secondary needles and a carrier therefor, means toca use said primaryneedles first to knit with a common yarn taken lovboth sets of needles.

.means to cause needles oit the secondary set .intercalated amongl otherneedles of said set to knit andy advance With'respect to'said primaryneedles to relieve the strain upon the varn last taken; and means tocause the intervening"needles of said secondary set to recede into'theircarrier to knit during the ice oit' the advanced position of theremaiuigr needles of said secondary set.

5. A ribknitting machine comprising two sets of'needlesand theircarriers, means for pguidine a yarn to the needles. means coacting"ivith needles of Vone lof said sets to draw, said 'yarn through previousloops to knit .one face of ribbed fabric; and thereafter to relai:theLtension-upon said last knit loops; mea-ns coacting with certainneedles of a second set to thereafter operate them in suc-v cession tcknit.- loops of said yarn in separated wales ol? the other'face of thefabric; means to relax the tension upon said last knit loops, and meansto actuate the remainin g needles ofthe second set. to knit the varnintervening between the said loops. r

65A rib knittinga machine comprising tivo sets oi needles and theircarriers, means for guiding a varn to the 'needles` means coactinq withneedles of one oi said sets to'dravv said yarn through previous loops toknit one face oi a" ribbed 'fabric and thereafter to relax the tensionupon the kuit loops; means coactinej with certain needles of the secondsetto thereafter operate them in successiouto knit loops of said yarn inseparated Walesof the `other. face of the i'ahric; means to relax thetension upon said last knit loops, and 'means to actuate the remainingneedles of the second set to knit the varn intervening; between the saidloops, and means ,'l'or thereafter coperatingA with the needles of bothsets to cause them to adjust tially the saine length.

so.v

` carrier, two series ofindependently movable needles in said 'secondatycarrier, primary and secondary cam carrers forv said respective needlecarriers, a cam/structure 1n said rimaryv carrier for causing the vprimary needles, to take and knit the yarn, cams 1n said secondarycarrier 'for causing the needles of both series lto take the yarn, a

cam for the operation of one set of said se'condary needles only tocause them to reced' into their carrier to knit, the ointof reces-Vsio'n 'following that of the knitting cam for the primary carrier; meansto relax the tensionu-pon the loops drawn by the needles at said pointof'reeession, and a cam for eoac tionwith'the 4other series of needlesof the secondaryfcarrier to cause them torecede into their carrier toknit, the point of recession following that of the first mentioned lseries of said secondary needles.

have signed my In testimonywhereof, I

the presence of name to this specification in twov subscribingwitnesses. v A l f RQBERT W. SCOTT.

. Witnesses:

MARGARET F; GOOD,- -I-IABRY J. KELLY'.

